On the plane from Angola to Equatorial Guinea on April 21, Pope Leo remembered Pope Francis on the first anniversary of his predecessor’s death. He recalled Francis’ closeness to the poor and discarded people of this world, as well as his emphasis on God’s mercy and on human fraternity, and he thanked God “for the great gift of the life of Francis to the whole church and to the world.”
Pope Francis “has given so much to the church, with his life, his witness, his words and his gestures, [and] many times, in what he did, truly living close to the poor, to the little ones, to the sick, to children and to the elderly,” Pope Leo said.
“He left much to the church with his witness and his word,” Leo said.
“We can remember many things,” he said, citing as an example Francis’ emphasis on “universal fraternity, seeking to promote authentic respect for all men, for all women, promoting this spirit of fraternity, of being brothers and sisters all, of seeking how to live the message that we find in the Gospel through knowing this spirit of fraternity among all.”
“We can remember,” he said, “his message of mercy [at] that first Angelus, and also in the Holy Mass that he celebrated even before the inauguration of his pontificate on March 17, 2013, when he preached on the woman caught in adultery and how he preached from the heart of the mercy of God.” He said Francis “wanted to share this spirit [of mercy] with the entire church,” and he also gave us “that most beautiful celebration of an extraordinary jubilee of mercy,” referring to the jubilee year that Francis opened in Bangui, the capital of the war-torn Central African Republic, in December 2015.
Pope Leo concluded, “We pray that he is already enjoying the mercy of the Lord, and we thank the Lord for the great gift of the life of Francis to the whole church and to the world.”
Leo also sent a written message to Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re, the dean of the College of Cardinals, that was read aloud at a Mass at Santa Maria Maggiore, where Pope Francis is buried, this afternoon. In it, Leo wrote, “Death is not a wall, but a door that swings wide open onto the Mercy that Pope Francis tirelessly proclaimed.”
He continued: “He served as the Successor of Peter and Shepherd of the universal Church during a time that marked—and continues to mark—a change of epoch; a change of which he was fully aware, offering to us all a courageous witness that constitutes a significant legacy for the Church.”
The pope wrote that his predecessor was a “missionary, proclaiming the Gospel of mercy ‘to everyone, to everyone, to everyone,’ as he had the chance to say on numerous occasions.”
“In harmony with his predecessors, he embraced the legacy of the Second Vatican Council and urged the Church to be open to mission, a guardian of the world’s hope, and passionate in proclaiming that Gospel which is capable of bringing fullness and happiness to every life,” Pope Leo said.
Citing more of Pope Francis’ most commonly used expressions, Pope Leo recalled: “We still hear echoing his exhortations—expressed in eloquent words—aimed at making the Good News more understandable: mercy, peace, fraternity, the ‘scent of the sheep,’ the ‘field hospital,’ and so many others. Each of these expressions leads us back to the Gospel, which he lived out using a new language that nonetheless proclaims the very same, timeless Gospel.”
He concluded by noting Pope Francis’ devotion to Mary and his many visits to Santa Maria Maggiore, where he prayed at the icon Salus Populi Romani (“Salvation of the people of Rome”). At the basilica today, a plaque was unveiled that said in Latin, “Francis Supreme Pontiff, who paused 126 times in devout prayer at the feet of the Salus Populi Romani; according to his will, rests in this Papal Basilica.”
Angola’s growing church
After his commemoration of Francis on the plane, Pope Leo went on to wish a happy birthday to two of the reporters on board and took questions from three Angolan journalists.
Asked by a reporter from Angola’s state television about how the church can help the government improve health and education services, Pope Leo noted that one of the questions he discussed with the country’s president “is precisely that of health and education, and how we can work together where possible to improve the services.” Leo said it was also the responsibility of the church to encourage the recognition of all people’s rights to health care and education through its witness and “courageous announcement of the Word of God.”
A journalist from the Angolan news agency noted that Angola has no cardinal and asked if he would hold a consistory soon to name one. Pope Leo smiled and acknowledged, “Many people want to ask that question.” He said, “It has not yet been decided when new cardinals will be created,” and “we need to look at this matter on a global level.” He added, “We hope that, for Africa and perhaps for Angola in the not-so-distant future, we may be able to consider the nomination of new cardinals.” His response signaled that a consistory in the immediate future is not in the cards. Some had expected the creation of new cardinals at the two-day consistory Pope Leo called for in June. By the end of June, there will be around 118 cardinal electors.
A reporter for Angolan Catholic radio asked whether new dioceses should be created to serve Angola’s growing church. “It is always a joy to see the places in the world where the church is growing,” Pope Leo said, “and we all know where the opposite is happening. So there’s a call to evangelization, to continue to proclaim the Gospel, and to seek to invite others—not through proselytism, as Pope Francis said, but through the beauty and the attraction of the faith. The joy of believers is one of the best announcements of the faith, of the Gospel.”
He acknowledged that the growth of the church in Angola and said the bishops there can make a proposal, in collaboration with the apostolic nuncio, and “we can concretely see where it would be important to create new dioceses for the good of the people, to have this possibility of more bishops with more closeness of a pastor with the people.”
During the papal trip to four countries in Africa, Pope Leo has been flexing his language skills, preaching Masses and giving speeches in French, English and Portuguese. On each flight to a new country, Pope Leo has spoken to journalists aboard the papal plane in either English or Italian.
In his final destination, the pope will add another language to that list, as Equatorial Guinea is the only Spanish-speaking country in Africa.
Pope Leo’s April 21–23 visit to Equatorial Guinea will be only the second papal visit to the country; the first was by St. John Paul II in 1982.
The papal visit coincides with the 170th anniversary of evangelization in the country, where roughly 75 percent of the 1.67 million population is Catholic.
Catholic News Service and Colleen Dulle contributed to this report.
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